Mundane Musings

After a long time I had the privilege of watching a movie without reading any reviews. For those who seem to think this rather unusual, you might want to step into my world. My fear of not enjoying a movie after parting with my hard earned money is so great, that I read a minimum of 3-4 reviews before I muster courage and step into a multiplex. And it has almost always worked for me in the past. But somehow in recent times I feel as if there is so much negative feedback going around, some even being too critical and offensive that I am rethinking this ‘strategy’ of mine. Forget someone else’s star ratings. The function of movie guides is to inform you who’s in a film and what it’s about, so that you can decide for yourself. http://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/between-reviews-farewell/ This line is from one of my favorite movie reviewer, Baradwaj Rangan’s, blog. Generally, his review alone is enough for me to make up my mind, but sometimes, just sometimes there re...

I am back, making up for the dismal posting of this month. I have been meaning to post this since last week, but this post had taken precedence. There are certain lunches when there is absolutely no need for a gravy or a curry, as the side dishes take over the meal completely. I was privileged to have one such lunch this Sunday. Bakrid has only just passed by, but the bounties of the festival linger on. I had some meat left over from the Qurbani and when mum visited us this weekend, I was all gung-ho about making something with it. Like always, I start with grandiose plans - like making a nice lamb pie with it, or a meat pizza or spaghetti. But the lack lusture response from the ones eating it, had me cajoling mum to make her mutton chukka recipe. Everybody has his/her own recipe that has minor variations of the original (depends who you are speaking to) and we love mum's. S, who stays clear of red meat and fish, makes an exception for mum's mutton biriyani and mutton ...

Yes, this blog post has been loooong in coming. Even I cringe when I see the date of my last blog entry. Where did the time go? Now let me see, there was Dussehra in between (and I did not do anything at all except catching up on some excellent Tamil movies on TV), then there was this nice, neat trip to Kolli Hills that a few friends and us managed to pack in to the long weekend and lots of reading…ahem…apart from this I know there hasn’t been much to not keep up with my blog entries. But the irony is that while I have been meaning to post on the books that I’ve been reading in the past month, it is also the reason why I haven’t been able to finish the blog. Books are very distracting. After being served a pretty dismal fare at the box office last month, with the exception of Lunch Box and perhaps Shudh Desi Romance , I found myself falling back on to the wonderful, trustworthy world of books. I was lucky to get some good books from my local library in September and F’s birthday...

Now when did I sit up and take notice of Amit Trivedi? (Amit who, you ask?). It definitely wasn't after listening to Dev D songs, I know. While I enjoyed the quirky, humourous and interestingly pictured ‘Emotional Atyachaar’ song, the other songs from the album were forgettable, even though ‘Nayan tarse’ and other songs were commended at that time and the movie won him a National Award for Best Music Director (now you know). Then there was Wake Up Sid! , which I privately designated as ‘the’ album of the year. However, at that time I did not realize that I would be doing this to all movies this guy composed music to. How does the Iktara song sound? It plays out like a forgotten, melancholy tune, arousing latent memories of rain drenched evenings and lost love, doesn't it? Kavitha Seth's strong vocals lend this song a superior quality. And not just this, but every song in the album is thoughtfully composed and set properly in to the story line.  And though I appreci...

A slice of Paris Two things struck me about Paris when I walked with slight trepidation and excitement, out of the huge, bright Charles De Gaulle airport in May. 1. Parisians seemed to be in a hurry. Not one local could be caught strolling or God forbid, lounging. Even the tourists seemed obligated to hurry a bit. One such tourist being me, of course. No sooner did I sigh and place my heavy backpack onto the escalator that I heard a soft "Pardon" behind me. I turned to see a polite yet impatient local, looking beyond me at the remaining part of the escalator, as if assessing her chances of jumping over me and continuing without a break. This reminded me very much of our bike riders in Chennai's streets. They think it anathema to apply breaks while zipping through traffic, even if it means cutting into other's path or knocking side mirrors of other vehicles. So I quickly   moved to the right and watched the purposeful stride of the woman who did no...

It’s raining! Yippee it’s raining. I am prancing about, jumping with joy. Because it is raining. I could keep repeating this sentence for the whole of today and still not tire of it. It’s raining! Whoop! I love the rain. I never did for a long time in the past, but now I do. I love the rain. In Chennai, that too. For the uninitiated let me explain the previous sentence. When, if you look outside your window and see a large body of muddy water creeping up to the doorway of your house, bringing with it debris of all kinds – half eaten, faded film posters, twigs and leaves, excreta, sewage and insects then you’d agree that it is not at all nice when it rains in Chennai. When all you can see through the haze of the rain is a cluster of grimy buildings, painted in garish yellow or 'jaal' (eye-blinding) pink years ago, instead of lush greenery, then yes, it is Chennai we are talking of. If you are one of those unfortunates who is stranded mid-way from any de...

What makes a place special when we visit it? It's people? Culture? Landscapes and scenic beauty? Food? Certain special experiences? Or if we are lucky, all of it? This question was on loop in my mind, as I got the fabulous opportunity to tour a part of Western Europe in May. As an Indian I am happy to say that all of the above reasons are available right here, in India. Whether it is experiencing the 'athithi devo' mentality of shy locals or the rich cultural heritage of almost all states of India, or the myriad scenic places just waiting to be explored or the unparalleled gastronomic experiences that are centuries old. We even have hot air ballooning, river rafting, trekking trails...you get my drift. And I am digressing. This blog is about my trip to Europe and an Indian's perspective of it. In spite of all the reasons I have stated above, I must confess that Europe had always appealed to me. I have always wanted to visit the snowy Alpine slopes of Switzerland,...

I love the unpredictability of the songs thrown up by my iPod on any given day. One day I jog to Soni Di Nakaren (love the beats of the song - kudukku...kudukku) and on another, I work on my laptop to the soulful rendition of L ag ja gale.  When I gym, I tend to go for peppy songs that coax my lazy muscles to move and keep my mood upbeat. And oh how much I need that boost. So this morning, while I was on my way down to the gym, I clumsily started off a playlist that pulled off all the songs from the iPod - Hindi, Old Hindi, English - all of it. In addition to the randomness of one playlist, I was offered songs from other playlists too. So one moment I was running away on the treadmill to Frankie Vallie's Can't take my eyes off you, and at another I was crunching the weights (well, I would like to think that) to Tom Jones's Delilah. Yep, what a song to work with weights. The initial high note which reminded me of the background score from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho ...